HV 

604-6 


UC-NRLF 


20    MES 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


SOCIAL  NON-CONFORMITY:  AN 
ANALYSIS  OF  FOUR  HUNDRED  AND 
TWENTY  CASES  OF  DELINQUENT 
GIRLS  AND  WOMEN  :-:  :-:  :-:  :-: 


BY 


FRANCES  QUINTER  HOLSOPPLE 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  IN 

PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


1919 


**' 


•  .*::•••  • 

•  ••*•*•»* 


THE  PROBLEM 

The  Philadelphia  Committee  was  established  to  represent 
the  Commission  on  Training  Camp  Activities,  Law  Enforcement 
Division,  in  protective  and  preventive  work  with  women  and 
girld  involved  with  soldiers  and  sailors  near  a  large  military  center. 
It  has  enlarged  its  scope  to  make  surveys  and  reports  of  various 
conditions  affecting  its  field.  It  has  also  supplied  women  officers 
with  police  power  to  warn,  take  home  or  arrest  girls  under  twenty- 
one  who  are  found  picking  up  men  on  the  streets  or  in  the  parks. 
The  cases  are  followed  up  by  the  Committee's  workers  with  the 
five  case  societies  of  the  city  which  deal  with  girls — (1)  The  Girls' 
Aid;  (2)  The  Catholic  Children's  Bureau;  (3)  The  Personal 
Service  Bureau  (Jewish) ;  (4)  The  Association  for  the  Protection 
of  Colored  Women;  (5)  The  White- Williams  Foundation  (for 
girls  of  school  age) . 

Four  hundred  and  twenty  cases  which  came  under  the 
Committee's  notice  from  these  agencies,  from  the  officers  on  the 
streets  and  from  the  reports  from  the  courts — Federal,  Municipal 
Misdemeanants  and  Municipal  Criminal — are  studied  in  the 
following  tables.  This  group  represents  a  complete  cross-section 
of  sex  delinquency  among  girls  involved  with  men  in  the  service 
during  the  period  covered — from  October  1,  1918,  to  February  1, 
1919. 

These  cases  range  from  the  girl  who  was  taken  home  by  a 
woman  protective  officer  with  the  warning  not  to  pick  up  sailors 
on  Market  Street  to  the  prostitutes  arrested  in  a  raid  by  the 
United  States  Department  of  Justice.  However,  all  are  alike  in 
that  they  have  failed  in  some  degree  to  conform  to  the  social 
standards  governing  sex  relations.  This  study  attempts  to  discover 
by  statistical  and  individual  analysis  some  tendencies  in  the  group 
which  may  indicate  some  factors  contributing  to  the  failure. 


THE  CONCEPT   OF  NON-CONFORMITY 

The  differences  and  similarities  in  these  cases  suggest  that 
if  the  fundamentals  of  behavior  could  be  analyzed,  we  might  find 
the  particular  defects  or  abilities  which  condition  the  individual's 
power  of  adaptation  to  his  environment.  Some  factors  may  be 
studied  as  they  appear  in  the  group  as  a  whole  —  for  example,  race, 
occupation,  wages,  mental  condition,  and  recreational  oppor- 
tunities. These  lose  all  their  significance  unless  they  can  also 
be  traced  in  the  smaller  and  more  homogeneous  groups  and  then 
in  the  individuals.  These  factors  in  the  environment  and  these 
specific  defects  and  abilities  in  the  individual's  character  affect 
his  compliance  with  the  demands  of  society,  and  in  turn  determine 
society's  judgment  of  him.  It  is  from  the  study  of  the  individual 
differences  in  relation  to  a  place  above  or  below  what  might 
be  called  a  norm  of  conformed  behavior  that  we  may  hope  to 
find  most  assistance  in  formulating  corrective  treatment. 

Some  study  of  individual  differences  has  been  attempted 
here.  In  all  possible  cases,  the  psychological  method  has  been 
used,  as  the  nearest  approach  to  a  measurement  of  the  individual. 
The  diagnosis  on  the  intellectual  scale  is  of  comparatively  little 
importance.  The  attempt  to  discover  special  competencies  and 
incompetencies  is  of  more  value.  If  we  regard  the  history  of 
each  of  these  cases  as  a  performance  —  that  is,  as  a  portion  of 
behavior  —  and  analyze  it  from  the  psychological  point  of  view, 
we  may  be  able  to  find  some  specific  defects  and  abilities  and  their 
bearing  upon  the  problem. 

It  is  important  to  determine  first  just  what  the  difference  in 
form  or  degree  of  delinquency  represented  among  these  girls  really 
means.  Each  one  stands  out  in  some  way  from  others  of  her  class 
and  as  a  subject  for  particular  corrective 


It  is  impossible  to  arrange  these  girls  on  Mcale  of  exact 
measurement  of  the  nature  of  their  offenses.  Tn%y  may  best  be 
characterized  as  the  "non-conformed"  —  those  who  in  any  way 
fall  short  of  a  standard  fixed  by  their  social  group.  This  standard 
may  be  a  legal  one,  as  in  the  case  of  the  girl  who  is  convicted  of 
soliciting  for  immoral  purposes  only  when  it  can  be  proved  that 


she  offered  herself  for  a  definite  price;  or  it  may  be  an  informal 
and  purely  social  one.  In  any  case  there  is  some  pattern  of 
behavior  to  which  society  expects  the  individual  to  adapt  himself, 
and  which  society  defends  when  a  deviation  is  discovered. 

The  individual  who  refuses  to  adopt  the  customs  of  his  group 
may  be  far  in  advance  of  them,  or  he  may  be  far  behind,  with 
respect  to  civilization.  He  may  be  acting  in  a  way  which  is  for 
the  greatest  good  of  the  whole.  On  the  other  hand,  he  may  be 
performing  a  most  anti-social  act.  Again,  he  may  do  something 
which  is  entirely  indifferent,  so  far  as  the  effects  for  good  or  evil 
are  concerned,  and  yet  offend  some  fixed  belief  or  superstition, 
and  so  incur  the  penalty  which  some  more  dangerous  offender 
may  fail  to  receive. 

There  are  striking  differences  in  standards  and  judgments 
according  to  the  group  in  which  an  act  is  committed.  In  one 
community  conduct  may  be  perfectly  conformed,  while  in  another 
the  same  conduct  will  awaken  widespread  attention.  In  the  same 
environment  an  act  may  be  conformed  at  one  time  and  non- 
conformed  at  another  in  a  different  setting.  In  other  words,  the 
behavior  of  an  individual  is  judged  in  relation  to  the  standards 
of  the  particular  unit  of  society  in  which  he  lives,  and  these  stand- 
ards vary  from  time  to  time. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  field  in  which  standards  of  behavior 
vary  so  widely  in  relation  to  race/time  and  place,  as  the  standards 
which  govern  sexual  relationships.  At  present  in  our  own  country 
these  differ  with  sections,  races  and  classes. 

The  following  tables  show  the  distribution  of  important  facts 
in  the  case  histories: 

1.  Source  of  cases. 

2.  Charge  or  source  of  complaint. 

3.  Nationality  and  race. 

4.  Occupations. 

5.  Wages. 

6.  Grade  left  school. 

7.  Age. 

8.  Age  at  first  sex  experience. 

9.  Sex  history. 

10.  Reason  for  first  experience. 

11.  Type  of  sex  offense. 

5 


12.  Marriage. 

13.  Environment. 

14.  Family. 

15.  Character  as  reported  to  worker. 

16.  Social  relationships  as  reported  to  worker. 

17.  Recreation. 

18.  Activities. 

19.  Physical  condition. 

20.  Mental  condition. 

21.  Institutional  record. 

22.  Other  offenses  noted. 

1.   Source  of  Cases 

Federal  Court  (Violation  of  Sections  12  and  13).  .284        67.6  % 
(On  charge  of  soliciting  soldiers  or  sailors,  or 
keeping   or  frequenting   a   disorderly  house 
near  a  camp  or  government  plant,  or  selling 
liquor  to  men  in  service.) 

Municipal  Court — Misdemeanants 5          1.2  % 

(Arrested  by  city  police  for  soliciting,  or  keeping 
or  frequenting  a  disorderly  house.) 

Municipal  Court — Criminal 2  •  5  % 

(Warrant  sworn  out  by  girl  against  man  in 
service — paternity  charge.) 

Arrested  or  taken  home  by  protective  officer 43        10.2  % 

Girls'  Aid 19          4.5  % 

(Protestant  girls  needing  friendly  service  and 
recreation.) 

Personal  Service  Bureau 3  -7% 

(Jewish.) 

Catholic  Children's  Bureau 7          1.7  % 

White-Williams  Foundation 14          3.4  % 

(Vocational  guidance  for  girls  of  school  age.) 

Other  Sources 43        10.2  % 

(From    individuals,    or    agencies    not    doing 
follow-up  work.) 


Total 420      100.0   % 


2.   Charge  or  Source  of  Complaint 

"  Violation  of  Section  13  "  (immorality)1 197  46 . 9  % 

Incorrigible 40  9.5% 

Selling  liquor 24  5.7% 

Observed  by  protective  officer 43  10. 2  % 

Arrested  in  raid 56  13. 3  % 

Signed  false  draft  exemption  claim 4  0.9% 

Keeping  disorderly  house 7  1.7  % 

Need  of  assistance 53  12. 6  % 

Material  witness  (violation  of  Mann  Act) 7  1.7  % 

1.  Source  of  cases. 

2.  Charge  or  source  of  complaint. 

The  greatest  number  of  cases  coming  from  any  single  source 
is  from  the  Federal  Court.  This  is  of  course  due  to  the  fact  that 
it  has  been  especially  prepared  to  deal  with  the  cases  of  immorality 
which  involved  men  in  the  service.  Many  of  the  women  were 
arrested  in  raids  on  suspected  disorderly  houses,  and  many  of 
them  had  to  be  released  because  of  lack  of  evidence  in  their 
particular  cases.  The  greatest  number  of  complaints  charged 
" soliciting"  or  "inmate  of  disorderly  house."  The  second  largest 
number  was  composed  of  the  girls  who  came  directly  under  the 
notice  of  the  protective  officers  in  the  street  work,  and  those  who 
were  referred  to  the  Committee  by  individuals  who  were  unable 
to  dispose  of  them  elsewhere.  It  is  interesting  to  find  that  the 
agencies  working  especially  with  girls,  though  prepared  to  deal 
with  young  girls  who  needed  protection  rather  than  punishment, 
found  so  few  cases. 

This  fact  indicates  how  difficult  real  protective  work  is  made 
by  the  impossibility  of  discovering  sexual  non-conformity  except 
in  the  most  extreme  cases.  Society  does  not  attempt  to  punish 
immorality  as  such.  It  merely  sanctions  enforcement  of  law  when 
immorality  is  found  in  a  flagrant  and  commercial  form.  The 
prostitutes  who  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  are  the 
least  successful  of  their  profession.  They  are  forced  to  solicit 
on  the  street  because  they  cannot  otherwise  earn  a  living.  In  the 
same  way,  the  girl  who  is  caught  in  a  raid  on  a  cheap  disorderly 

1  Several  girls  were  arrested  on  two  charges.  Percentages  based  on  total  number 
of  girls. 

7       ' 


house  is  economically  a  less  successful  prostitute  than  the  one 
who  is  able  to  live  in  a  more  expensive  protected  establishment. 
As  for  the  large  number  of  women  who  are  "kept"  in  more  or 
less  comfort,  and  the  larger  number  who  resort  to  occasional 
immorality  to  supplement  their  earnings,  they  are  never  included 
in  any  statistics  of  prostitution. 

3.   Nationality  and  Race 


Native  white  

242 

"       negro  
Russian  
Irish     . 

40 
.  .  37 
56 

French 

18 

Italian  
Polish 

7 
9 

Hungarian.  
Swedish  

5 
.  .     5 

English  

1 

Jewish  .  . 

420 

.    48 

3.   Nationality  and  race. 

The  racial  distribution  follows  fairly  closely  the  general  line 
of  the  city's  population,  with  a  few  variations  in  the  smaller  groups. 
The  evidence  of  this  study  is  not  significant,  as  the  small  number 
of  the  foreign-born  is  distributed  among  all  types  of  delinquency. 
However,  in  the  light  of  the  concept  of  non-conformity,  we  should 
expect  a  higher  standard  among  those  racial  groups  which  are 
most  American  in  language  and  customs,  as,  for  instance,  the 
Irish  born,  or  those  which  have  been  longest  in  this  country. 
Deviations  would  accordingly  be  more  obvious.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  number  of  Irish  born  is  large  in  proportion  to  the  total 
population.  On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of  negroes  is  small. 
An  example  of  the  modified  racial  standard  of  conformity,  uncon- 
sciously applied,  was  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  protective  officers 
often  ignored  behavior  on  the  part  of  negro  girls  which  would 
have  led  to  the  arrest  of  white  girls. 


4.   Occupations 

Unknown 16 

No  employment 85 

Housewife 56 

Housework 85 

Mill  or  factory 89 

Store  (salesgirls) 36 

Clerical 9 

Telephone 6 

In  school 18 

Stage 8 

Waitress  (restaurant) 5 

Demonstrator 2 

Other  employment , 5 

420 

5.   Wages 

Unknown 133 

No  wage 204 

Less  than  $10  per  week 43 

$10  to  $20  ."      "     33 

$20  to  $30  "      "  7 


420 


Average  wage  of  83  earners,  per  week $8. 04 

Maximum  wage  per  week  (munitions) 24 . 00 

Minimum  wage  per  week  (housework) .  , 2. 00 

4.  Occupations. 

5.  Wages. 

The  distribution  of  wages  and  employment  shows  a  pre- 
ponderance of  low-paid,  unskilled  occupations.  "Occupation,"  as 
given  in  the  records,  is  derived  from  the  statements  of  the  girls. 
It  often  refers  to  a  short  term  of  employment  long  before.  As 
may  be  seen  from  the  wages  earned,  comparatively  few  girls  were 
working  at  all. 

The  greatest  number  were  employed  in  the  mills.  They 
belong  to  the  floating,  unskilled  class.  The  low  wages  are  remark- 

9 


able  when  the  very  high  scale  of  wages  in  the  autumn  of  1918, 
just  before  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  is  considered. 

Probably  " housework"  means  that  the  girl  stays  at  home. 
The  few  who  gave  the  addresses  of  employers  were  of  the  most 
inefficient  type  and  their  pay  was  uniformly  low.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  few  girls  who  have  learned  trades  demanding 
training.  The  mill  operators  are  not  of  the  type  who  are  able  to 
acquire  high  efficiency  at  piece  work.  This  suggests  that  the 
ability  to  enter  a  skilled  occupation  is  correlated  either  with 
ability  to  maintain  a  highly  conformed  standard  of  behavior, 
or  with  the  ability  to  avoid  being  caught.  We  should  expect 
this,  since  training  in  any  field  is  itself  a  conformity-producing 
process. 

Although  many  instances  might  be  cited  to  show  that  the 
transfer  of  this  conformity  often  fails  to  take  place,  at  least  it  is 
possible  to  infer  that  the  degree  of  trainability  which  conduces 
to  economic  sufficiency  makes  social  sufficiency  more  probable. 

6.   Grade  Left  School 

Unknown 139 

Attended  none  in  U.  S 5 

"      "  life :....' 28 

Left  from  1st  grade 9 

11       "     2d       "     7 

"        "     3d       "     20 

"     4th     " 24 

"     5th     " 27 

"        "     6th      "     36 

"        "     7th     "     37 

"     8th     "     52 

9th  or  over 36 

420 

Average  grade  of  248  cases 6th 

Median  grade  of  248  cases 6th 

6.    Grade  at  which  the  girl  left  school. 

The  school  record  of  the  girls  shows  little  illiteracy  in  pro- 
portion to  the  illiteracy  of  the  population  and  the  large  number 

10 


of  foreign  born,  but  at  the  same  time  it  shows  no  well-educated 
individuals.  Of  the  28  girls  who  had  never  attended  school  half 
were  reared  abroad.  The  records  are  based  on  the  girls'  state- 
ments, and  they  are  probably  rather  high.  The  average  grade  of 
leaving  school  is  the  sixth,  the  normal  grade  for  those  who  must 
work  as  early  as  possible.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  retardation 
shown  in  the  number  who  were  old  enough  to  leave  from  the  lower 
grades. 

A  more  interesting  point  is  the  elimination  in  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades  and  first  year  of  high  school.  These  girls  did 
not  leave  school  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  work,  but  probably 
because  the  influences  holding  them  in  school  were  weaker 
than  the  adolescent  impulse  against  school  conformity. 

7.   Age 
Average  age  of  known  cases 20. 2  years 

8.   Age  at  First  Sex  Experience 

Average  age  of  249  known  cases 17. 43  years 

7.  Age  of  girls. 

8.  Age  at  first  sex  experience. 

The  ages  of  the  cases  vary  from  twelve  to  fifty-five  years, 
with  an  average  age  of  20.2.  The  majority  are  between  nineteen 
and  twenty- three.  This  forms  an  interesting  contrast  with  the 
age  at  first  sex  experience,  as  given  by  the  girls  themselves. 
Three-fourths  state  that  their  first  experience  was  under  twenty 
years — an  average  age  of  17.43  years. 

This  substantiates  the  general  opinion  that  a  girl's  first  offense 
rarely  brings  her  before  a  corrective  agency,  and  further  suggests 
that  the  age  at  first  experience  is  earlier  than  is  usually  known 
to  those  most  interested  in  a  particular  girl.  It  also  shows  that 
the  large  number  of  offenders  over  twenty,  most  of  whom  are  from 
the  courts,  have  been  non-conformed  for  a  considerable  time.  It 
is  quite  in  keeping  with  this  concept  of  non-conformity  that  the 
individuals  should  be  segregated  as  they  grow  older  and  the 
tendency  becomes  more  marked.  They  come  into  court  as  a  rule 
only  after  the  conditions  resulting  from  prostitution — such  as  poor 
health — have  increased  the  chances  of  being  caught. 

There  seems  to  be  some  significance  in  the  fact  that  the  age 

11 


at  first  sex  experience  falls  so  early  in  the  adolescent  period. 
Apparently  these  girls  lack  the  conditions,  whatever  they  are, 
which  tend  to  postpone  sex  experience. 

9.    Sex  History1 

Unknown ; .- 107 

None 72 

Marriage  first  experience 113 

Relations  with  husband  before  marriage 19 

Promiscuous  before  marriage 22 

since  marriage .  .   33 

"  unmarried  .  .   54 


420 

10.   Reason  for  First  Experience1 

Unknown  or  non'1 315 

Forced 17 

Money 8 

Love 37 

Promise  of  marriage 43 

420 

11.   Type  of  Sex  Offense2 

Has  taken  money 188 

Solicits  on  street 134 

Lives  in  disorderly  house 102 

Keeps  disorderly  house 15 

Not  prostitute,  but  has  been  with  several  men 67 

Has  picked  up  men,  no  sex  experience 24 

Sex  experience  suspected,  but  uncertain 45 

Illegitimate  pregnancy „ 37 

9.  Sex  history. 

10.  Reason  for  first  sex  experience. 

11.  Type  of  sex  offense. 

12.  Marriage. 

Information  such  as  that  in  Tables  9  and  10  must  be  inter- 
preted as  indicating  rather  what  the  girls  wish  the  worker  to  think 


1  As  given  by  the  girl. 

2  Class  fication  not  mutually  exclusive. 

12 


than  as  showing  the  real  history.  A  large  number  claimed 
marriage  as  their  first  experience.  Nearly  half  of  all  the  cases 
are  married.  One-fourth  of  the  whole  number  is  made  up  of 
married  women  separated  from  their  husbands,  without  the 
formality  of  a  divorce. 

The  reasons  given  for  the  first  experience  are  interesting  in 
the  light  of  the  claim  so  often  made  that  many  girls  go  into  prosti- 
tution deliberately,  because  of  poverty.  The  evidence  in  the 
cases  is  rather  that  most  of  these  girls  either  married  unhappily, 
or  had  illicit  sex  relations  at  a  very  early  age. 


12. 
Unknown  ..............................................     4 

Married,  lives  with  husband  ..............................   24 

separated  from  husband  .........................  103 

Divorced  ...............................................   12 

Widow  ................................................   32 

Common-law  husband  .................................   37 

Single,  lives  with  parents  ................................  8 

"    alone  .......  .......  "...110 

"     with  relatives  .  ................   14 

420 

13.   Environment1 

Unknown  .....    ........................................  38 

Home,  good  ..........................................  63 

"      poor  .............................................  95 

With  friends  ..................  ..........................  7 

Rooming  house,  desirable  .................................  15 

"      undesirable  ...........  ...................  77 

Disorderly  house  ........................................  102 

Employed  in  good  environment  ...........................  11 

'  bad  environment  ..........................  6 

Institutional  history  in  childhood  ..........................  15 

13.  Environment. 

14.  Family. 

15.  Character  as  reported  to  worker. 

16.  Social  relationships  as  reported  to  worker. 

17.  Recreation. 

18.  Activities. 


Classification  not  mutually  exclusive. 

13 


14.   Family1 

Unknown 33 

None 106 

Father  living 164 

Mother  living 110 

Other  relatives  guardians 5 

Brothers  and  sisters  guardians 12 

Legitimate  children  living — one 44 

"  "  "  more  than  one 13 

dead 8 

Illegitimate  children  living 21 

dead..  10 


15.   Character  as  Reported  to  Worker1 

Unknown 107 

Attractive - 28 

Reliable 26 

Untruthful 26 

Quarrelsome 14 

Antagonistic  to  family 53 

Unreliable 103 

"No  morals" 46 

"Easily  led" .   36 


16.   Social  Relationships  as  Reported  to  Worker 


Unknown 130 

Normal 55 

Good  reputation  with  neighbors 15 

Bad  reputation  with  neighbors 60 

Relations  strained  with  family Ill 

"     husband 36 

Family  disapproves  of  friends 24 

"       wants  the  girl  back 8 


Classification  not  mutually  exclusive. 

14 


17.  Recreation 

(Mentioned  by  worker) 

Normal  activities  and  good  home 18 

Needs  more  recreation,  good  home 23 

Poor  home,  no  recreation 60 

Parents  indifferent  to  recreation 46 

18.  Activities 

(Reported  by  girl  or  parents) 

Clubs .  3 

Church  organizations 5 

Dances 27 

Parks 29 

Moving  pictures 40 

Questionable  dance-halls,  streets  and  saloons 143 

Along  with  the  lack  of  school  influences  maintained  through 
the  critical  period  of  adolescence  these  cases  seem  to  reveal  a  lack 
of  normal  home  life.  In  comparison  with  the  number  of  young 
girls  living  at  home,  the  number  of  "good"  homes  is  surprisingly 
small.  The  girl  whose  environment  is  good  and  who  belongs  to 
supervised  organizations  is  scarcely  represented  here.  Strained 
family  relations  and  poor  recreational  opportunities  all  suggest 
that  this  whole  group  has  missed  a  stabilizing  influence  against 
non-conformity.  It  is  especially  clear  from  the  individual  cases 
that  sex  delinquency  increases  with  absence  of  other  interests  and 
with  lack  of  opportunity  for  the  expression  of  other  instincts. 

19.  Physical  Condition1 

No  report 102 

Normal 94 

Syphilis 120 

Gonorrhea 62 

Addicted  to  drugs 31 

Tubercular 5 

Alcoholic 22 

Frail  and  ill-nourished 22 

Pregnant 35 

Very  ill 3 


1  Classification  not  mutually  exclusive. 

15 


20.   Mental  Condition 

No  record 117 

Normal 132 

Institutional  case 7 

Subnormal 54 

Subnormality  suspected,  no  examination 9 

Neurotic 10 

Insane 6 

Neurotic  history 26 

Unable  to  earn  Irving,  apparently  not  i'eeble-minded 44 

Dull  from    drugs    to    such    an    extent   that    diagnosis    was 
impossible 15 

420 

19.  Physical  condition. 

20.  Mental  condition. 

The  physical  condition  of  these  girls  as  shown  in  the  cases 
examined  is  surprisingly  bad  when  the  low  average  age  is  con- 
sidered. Those  listed  as  normal  and  not  examined  belong  generally 
to  the  younger  group.  The  amount  of  venereal  disease  is  large 
and  is  not  confined  to  the  definitely  prostitute  cases,  although  the 
greater  part  of  it  is  found  there.  On  the  whole  the  bad  physical 
condition  seems  to  be  a  result  rather  than  a  contributing  factor 
of  the  social  insufficiency. 

Among  the  mental  records  normality  predominates.  In  the 
cases  where  there  is  no  statement  of  mental  condition  the  girl  is 
probably  apparently  normal.  Even  if  we  include  those  of  a 
neurotic  history  and  those  who  are  subnormal  socially — those  who 
are  not  segregated  by  intellectual  defects  but  who  seem  unable  to 
succeed  in  anything — we  still  find  very  few  whose  failure  to  con- 
form seems  due  to  mere  feeble-mindedness.  It  is  nothing  so 
simple  as  mental  deficiency  which  has  prevented  the  adjustment 
of  individual  to  environment.  On  the  other  hand,  hardly  an 
individual  case  has  so  far  been  analyzed  which  has  not  presented 
some  specific  mental  defect,  not  nearly  enough  in  itself  to  con- 
tradict the  diagnosis  of  normality,  but  which  has  proved  the 
weak  point  in  the  adjustment. 

16 


21.   Previous  Court  Record1 

Unknown 65 

None 230 

Juvenile  Court 22 

Misdemeanant  Courts 14 

One  penal  sentence 12 

More  than  one  sentence 15 

22.   Other  Offenses  Noted 

Steals 8 

Drinks  95 

Runaway 51 

21.  Institutional  record. 

22.  Other  offenses  noted. 

Few  of  these  cases  have  been  in  court  before.  This  table 
does  not  include  various  social  agencies  which  have  been  inter- 
ested in  the  cases.  Nearly  all  of  the  younger  girls  who  have  been 
in  court  or  have  had  trouble  at  home  which  seemed  in  danger  of 
developing  to  the  point  of  a  court  case  are  listed  as  runaways  in 
order  to  simplify  court  procedure.  The  girls  who  drink  prac- 
tically all  belong  to  the  older  group — the  prostitutes  or  the  married 
women  who  get  into  occasional  trouble.  It  is  interesting  that  the 
line  of  non-conformity  seems  so  highly  specialized  that  few  of 
these  sex  offenders  have  records  of  theft  or  petty  misdemeanors. 


1  Classification  not  mutually  exclusive. 


17 


A  SPECIAL  STUDY  OF   157  PROVEN  PROSTITUTES 

1.  Age. 

2.  Age  at  first  sex  experience. 

3.  Marriage. 

4.  Sex  history. 

5.  Reason  for  first  sex  experience. 

6.  Physical  condition. 

7.  Mental  condition. 

1.  Age 

Average  age  of  known  cases 28. 1  years 

2.   Age  at  First  Sex  Experience 

Average  age  of  known  cases 16. 3  years 

3.  Marriage1 

Married,  living  with  husband 4 

separated  from  husband 48 

Divorced 6 

Widow 14 

Common-law  husband : 15 

Single,  living  with  parents 9 

"     alone 62 

*          "     with  relatives 3 

4.   Sex  History2 

First  experience  before  marriage 8 

Marriage  first  experience .".... 35 

Promiscuous  before  marriage .16 

since  marriage 22 

single 76 

157 

5.  Reason  for  First  Sex  Experience2 

First  experience  forced 5 

promise  of  marriage 15 

love -.  .  .  18 

for  money 5 

1  Classification  not  mutually  exclusive. 

2  As  given  by  gill. 


6.   Physical  Condition1 

Unknown 39 

Normal ' 17 

Syphilis .  76 

Gonorrhea 37 

Addicted  to  drugs 23 

Tuberculous 2 

Alcoholic 10 

Pregnant 5 

Frail  and  ill-nourished 3 

111 1 

7.  Mental  Condition 

Unknown 45 

Normal 43 

Institutional  case 5 

Subnormal 20 

Subnormality  suspected,  no  examination 3 

Neurotic 4 

Insane 4 

Neurotic  history 10 

Unable  to  earn  living,  apparently  not  feeble-minded 22 

Dull  from  drugs  to  such  an  extent  that  examination  was 

impossible 1 

157 

Study  of  157  Cases  of  Legally  Proven  Prostitutes 

This  group  was  selected  in  order  to  compare  the  women  who 
were  definitely  prostitutes  with  the  group  as  a  whole.  Each  one 
of  these  women  has  legally  been  proved  to  have  stated  her  price. 
There  are  many  prostitutes  among  the  cases  who  are  not  included. 
In  fact,  this  only  represents  the  very  lowest  social  class. 

The  average  is  eight  years  higher  than  the  average  of  the 
420  cases,  the  median  falling  at  twenty-seven.  This  is  further 
evidence  that  the  chances  are  in  favor  of  the  older  women  being 
caught.  It  is  unfortunate  that  there  is  no  way  of  telling  how 
long  these  women  have  been  on  the  streets.  Those  who  come 
into  court  are  probably  the  ones  who  have  been  in  prostitution 

1  Classification  not  mutually  exclusive. 

19 


the  longest.  Certainly  the  age  at  first  sex  experience  is  noticeably 
lower.  The  three-quarters  of  a  year  difference  falls  at  a  time 
when  it  throws  the  first  sex  experience  of  these  girls  back  into  the 
earlier  period  of  adolescence.  This  means  that  there  is  less 
adaptation  to  social  standards  and  fewer  inhibitions  which  would 
produce  conformity. 

The  physical  examinations  show  an  extremely  high  rate  of 
venereal  disease,  and  a  larger  percentage  of  alcoholics  and  drug 
addicts  in  this  group.  This  most  striking  point,  however,  is  the 
report  of  the  mental  condition.  Instead  of  indicating  that  the 
legal  offenders,  who  are  lowest  so  far  as  conformity  is  concerned, 
are  below  the  rest  on  the  intellectual  scale,  this  report  shows  that 
the  percentage  of  subnormality  is  about  the  same.  Any  sweeping 
statements  about  the  high  correlation  between  feeble-mindedness 
and  prostitution  fail  when  applied  to  these  cases.  This  fact 
shows  most  clearly  that  the  scales  of  conformity  and  intelligence 
are  totally  different  concepts,  since  these  women,  although  lowest 
in  conformity  rating,  are  distributed  on  the  intelligence  scale  in 
about  the  same  ratio  as  the  group  composed  of  varying  degrees 
of  the  non-conformed. 

The  number  of  cases  falling  in  the  " unable  to  earn  living, 
apparently  not  feeble-minded"  column — the  socially  subnormal— 
in  contrast  to  the  few  who  are  mentally  defective  emphasizes 
the  part  which  the  individual's  position  on  the  social  rather  than 
the  intellectual  scale  plays  in  bringing  about  a  recognized  status 
of  non-conformity. 


20 


A   SPECIAL   STUDY  OF   116  CASES 

1.  Age. 

2.  Age  at  first  sex  experience. 

3.  Sex  history. 

4.  Reason  for  first  sex  experience. 

Study  of  116  Cases,  Not  Prostitutes,  but  with  Sex  Experience 

The  following  group  was  selected  for  comparison  with  the 
preceding  tables.  It  contains  (1)  girls  reported  from  the  case 
societies,  not  prostitutes,  but  with  sex  experience;  and  (2)  married 
women  who  have  had  affairs  with  other  men.  None  of  these 
women  has  taken  money. 

These  cases  were  selected  as  examples  of  the  sporadically 
rather  than  the  professionally  non-conformed.  Many  of  them 
have  had  exactly  the  same  experiences  which  the  prostitutes  have 
assigned  as  the  cause  of  their  immorality.  However,  this  group 
have  not  been  willing  to  remain  outside  the  limits  of  conformity. 
It  includes  younger  girls  than  the  other — probably  because  so 
many  of  them  are  unmarried  mothers  who  were  obliged  to  go  to 
one  of  the  agencies  for  help.  The  interesting  point  of  contrast 
is  the  slightly  higher  age  at  first  sex  experience.  Considered  in 
connection  with  the  average  age  for  the  group  of  420  cases,  this 
seems  to  show  that  when  the  girl  has  passed  through  the  early 
period  of  adolescence,  and  habits  of  conformity  have  been  better 
established,  there  is  less  likelihood  of  her  remaining  below  the 
conformity  level. 

1.  Age 

Average  age 21 . 6  years 

2.  Age  at  First  Sex  Experience 

Average  age 17. 1  years 

21 


3.  Sex  History1 

Unknown 6 

First  experience  before  marriage 8 

since  marriage 33 

Promiscuous  before  marriage 3 

since  marriage 4 

Single 17 

4.  Reason  for  First  Sex  Experience1 

First  experience  forced 8 

promise  of  marriage . .  20 

love..                                                                  ,  13 


Reason  given  by  the  girl. 


TEN  SELECTED  CASES 

The  following  ten  cases  have  been  selected  as  illustrating  the 
failure  of  individuals  to  conform.  They  are  typical  of  the  larger 
number. 

A.  Cases  without  sex  experience.     Non-conformity  due  to 

lack  of  interests  and  recreation. 

1.  Ruth  (poor  school  and  home  conditinos.) 

2.  Marian  (poor  school  and  home  conditions). 

3.  Beatrice  (physically  degenerate  type). 

4.  Sara  (overdeveloped  for  age). 

B.  Sexually  non-conformed.     Sex  experience  preceded  forma- 

tion of  inhibitions. 

5.  Emma  (poor  home  and  school  conditions). 

6.  Margaret  (poor  home  and  school  conditions). 

7.  Louise  (high-grade  feeble-minded). 

8.  Clara  (over-developed  for  age). 

C.  Prostitutes. 

9.  Bertha. 
10.    Elizabeth. 

The  Relation  of  Non-Conformity  to  Specific  Defects  and  Abilities 

Although  they  all  show  certain  mental  defects  which  have 
made  adjustment  to  environment  imperfect,  none  of  these  girls 
are  intellectually  inadequate  to  the  point  of  segregation  by  society. 
Even  Louise  lacks  the  qualitative  marks  of  feeble-mindedness 
necessary  for  commitment  to  an  institution.  It  is  interesting  to  see 
just  how  these  defects  have  operated  to  produce  non-conformity. 

Enough  congenital  ability  to  learn  some  simple  task  and 
perform  it  over  and  over  until  more  or  less  efficiency  is  acquired 
may  be  a  basis  for  economic  sufficiency.  This  ability  will  enable 
the  individual  to  support  himself,  and  will  mark  him  as  normal 
on  the  economic  scale.  In  the  same  way,  enough  congenital 
ability  to  allow  him  to  learn  the  customs  of  surrounding  individuals 
and  to  adopt  them  will  constitute  normality  on  the  social  scale. 

23 


conformity  is  the  fixation  of  social  habits — the  expression  of 
the  instinct  of  imitation.  Intelligence  means  something  entirely  dif- 
ferent; it  is  selective  as  it  implies  the  ability  to  solve  new  problems 
successfully  and  to  choose  between  alternatives,  and  it  is  hampered 
in  a  new  situation  if  there  is  too  great  a  tendency  to  conform. 

Mental  defects  are  not  in  themselves  a  cause  of  social  insuffi- 
ciency. They  only  become  so  indirectly  when  they  prevent  the 
individual  from  acquiring  the  social  habits  necessary  to  make 
him  one  of  his  group. 

In  our  complex  life  the  adjustment  is  made  well  or  badly  as 
it  is  made  with  consideration  for  the  whole  environment  or  for  an 
accidental  phase.  When  there  is  a  mental  defect  consisting  of 
absence  of  ability  to  plan  ahead  and  to  see  all  sides  of  a  situation, 
or  to  imagine  other  situations,  this  adaptation  cannot  be  made. 
Bertha  and  Elizabeth  show  this  type  of  failure  in  their  inability 
to  contrast  present  and  future  good,  and  in  their  vague  ideas  of 
time  and  cause  and  effect. 

Both  on  the  economic  and  social  scale,  a  certain  amount  of 
trainability  is  necessary.  We  may  measure  this  ability  by 
laboratory  tests,  and  predict  that  a  girl  like  Louise  will  never  be 
able  to  support  herself  independently.  Beatrice  can  never  be 
socially  sufficient  because  of  her  lack  of  attention — analytic, 
concentrated  and  persistent — which  will  interfere  with  her  under- 
standing and  following  of  social  standards.  In  all  the  girls  of 
school  age  who  are  in  process  of  becoming  social  problems,  the 
congenital  abilities  are  seen  appreciably  modifying  the  effects  of 
school  environment.  Ruth,  Sarah,  and  Marian  are  failing  to 
conform  because  their  specific  defects  were  not  observed  and  taken 
into  consideration.  They  lack  the  language  facility  and  the 
memory  span  for  the  sort  of  school  work  usually  required,  and 
resemble  in  this  a  large  number  of  children  who  could  become 
economically  and  socially  sufficient  by  a  little  skilful  guidance 
along  vocational  and  recreational  lines. 

Nearly  all  these  girls  are  unable  to  express  in  words  their 
point  of  view  on  the  specific  phase  of  non-conformity  which  is  the 
basis  of  selection  of  the  group.  Many  of  them  have  no  point  of 
view — they  have  drifted  into  sex  irregularities  without  knowing 
why,  following  not  only  the  sex  instinct,  but  all  the  impulses  toward 
self-expression  and  recreation  which  were  denied  any  other  outlet. 
The  older  prostitutes  have  worked  out  more  of  a  philosophy  of 
life;  even  though  they  realize  that  they  are  outside  the  social 

24 


order,  they  do  not  put  this  into  words.  They  consider  themselves 
necessary  to  th3  scheme  of  things,  and  they  have  conventional 
standards  of  their  own,  as  when  one  of  them  who  had  been  a 
street  walker  for  years  objected  to  the  " immodest"  way  in  which 
the  girls  in  the  Liberty  Loan  booths  approached  men. 

The  impulse  to  conform  is  so  fundamental  that  it  is  found 
even  in  the  non-conformed  group.  The  girl's  own  ability  to 
discriminate  determines  the  phase  of  the  environment  to  which 
she  conforms.  The  analysis  of  these  cases  indicates  that  a  study 
of  the  individual,  with  education  and  recreation  based  upon  that 
study,  could  do  much  to  direct  this  tendency  into  channels  that 
would  be  of  value  to  society. 

RUTH 
Source:  White- Williams.     Age:   15-7.     BinetAge:   10-6 

This  girl  of  fifteen  was  first  referred  to  the  Philadelphia 
Committee  by  the  White- Williams  Foundation.  Her  attendance 
and  conduct  in  the  fifth  grade  were  so  bad  that  her  teachers 
advised  a  domestic  certificate.  The  case  was  reported  to  the 
Committee  after  the  vocational  counsellor  heard  that  the  girl  was 
"running  with"  soldiers. 

Ruth  looks  less  than  her  age.  She  is  short,  with  a  thin  but 
square  frame,  blue  eyes,  and  a  sallow  complexion.  She  uses 
neither  powder  nor  paint,  and  very  little  soap.  Her  home  is  with 
her  mother  and  eighteen-year  old  brother  in  one  of  the  poorest 
alleys  of  South  Philadelphia.  The  brother  has  just  returned 
from  a  reform  school.  Two  older  men,  relatives  of  the  mother, 
board  in  the  house,  which  is  poorly  furnished  and  insanitary. 

After  investigation  of  the  families'  earning  capacity,  the 
domestic  certificate  was  refused.  Now  Ruth  declines  to  return 
to  school.  She  cordially  hates  the  fifth  grade  teachers  of  her  own 
building,  but  because  of  her  bad  record  she  cannot  be  transferred. 
Ruth  is  quite  capable  of  being  disagreeable  in  school;  she  is  a 
sullen,  quiet  girl,  and  she  refuses  to  talk  before  her  hypochondriacal 
mother.  Away  from  home,  she  is  quite  willing  to  discuss  things. 
She  says  that  she  is  anxious  to  go  to  work.  However,  she  will  not 
try  a  position  at  domestic  service,  as  this  would  involve  leaving 
her  mother. 

Ruth's  non-conformity  has  not  yet  reached  the  point  of  sex 
offense.  Just  now  she  has  no  " regular  company."  She  is  devoted 

25 


to  ten-cent  novels,  often  reading  two  at  a  sitting.  As  the  mother 
cleans  offices  and  is  at  home  very  little,  the  slovenly  housekeeping 
makes  few  demands  upon  Ruth's  time.  Ruth  goes  regularly  to 
an  Episcopal  Sunday-school.  Every  day  in  the  week  she  goes  to 
a  neighborhood  moving  picture  place.  She  is  especially  fond  of 
following  serials. 

The  attraction  towards  soldiers  seems  to  have  lapsed  into  a 
fantasy  stage.  She  says  she  loves  to  pretend  that  she  is  in  the 
stories  and  pictures.  This  is  the  only  thing  she  becomes  enthusias- 
tic about.  Her  shyness,  obstinacy,  and  self-repression  have  shut 
her  into  a  little  world  of  her  own. 

The  psychological  examination  gives  Ruth  an  age  of  10-6  on 
the  Terman  revision,  with  a  basal  age  of  9,  and  an  I.  Q.  of  67.4. 
She  is  particularly  deficient  in  arithmetic,  as  her  proficiency  is 
below  third  grade.  She  has  no  idea  what  process  to  use  in  the 
simplest  reading  problems.  Her  memory  span  is  short,  below 
the  ten-year  level  both  for  words  and  digits.  This  is  not  com- 
pensated for  by  trainability,  as  she  learned  the  six-digit  series  on 
seven  repetitions,  and  failed  to  learn  the  seven  digit  series  on 
twelve.  Her  attention  fluctuates,  and  this  with  her  poor  memory 
span  and  her  low  degree  of  trainability,  probably  accounts  for 
her  failure  at  school.  She  fails  on  most  of  the  judgment  problems, 
and  seems  quite  unable  to  plan  ahead.  This  characteristic,  which 
is  seen  so  clearly  in  the  tests,  was  instanced  when  she  was  told 
that  if  she  would  return  to  her  grade  for  a  short  time  she  would  be 
eligible  for  transfer  to  another  building.  She  refused  to  do  this, 
although  the  transfer  meant  being  with  her  friends  and  she  really 
desired  it. 

Her  vocabulary  is  also  below  the  twelve-year  level.  However, 
she  does  not  give  wild  guesses  as  answers.  She  does  all  the  per- 
formance tests  well,  though  rather  slowly,  and  is  capable  of 
acquiring  efficiency  rapidly.  She  is  not  feeble-minded,  although 
retarded  and  backward,  and  is  perfectly  capable  of  learning  some 
manual  occupation  which  would  enable  her  to  support  herself. 

Ruth  is  a  good  example  of  the  type  whose  non-conformity 
arises  from  inability  to  understand  the  standards  set  before  it. 
She  cannot  look  ahead  well  enough  to  see  the  advantages  which 
would  come  from  more  school,  and  yet  she  was  prompt  and 
satisfactory  during  a  short  time  she  was  employed  in  a  mill.  Her 
problem  will  be  solved  as  soon  as  some  work  is  found  for  her  which 
will  be  simple  enough  for  her  to  do  perfectly,  and  yet  will  demand 

26 


her  best  efforts.  However,  since  she  has  not  reached  the  entrance 
requirements  of  the  trade  school,  she  is  obliged  to  read  and  day- 
dream at  home  until  she  can  go  to  work  next  July. 

MARIAN 
Source:  White- Williams.     Age:    15-6.     Binet  Age:    9-7. 

Marian  is  a  fair  example  of  a  type  which  is  only  too  common 
among  applicants  for  the  domestic  certificate.  She  has  spent 
eight  years  in  the  public  schools,  arid  since,  at  fifteen,  she  has  not 
yet  completed  the  third  grade,  she  is  still  under  their  supervision. 
Now  she  is  unwilling  to  stay  in  school,  unable  to  go  to  work,  and 
is  becoming  a  serious  social  problem. 

Part  of  her  retardation  has  been  due  to  her  history.  The 
mother  was  left  a  widow  with  four  children  when  Marian  was 
five  years  old.  She  placed  the  girl  in  an  orphanage.  Several 
years  later,  when  she  remarried  and  claimed  her  children,  she 
found  Marian  entirely  unlike  herself.  "She  was  frightened  and 
quiet  all  the  time,  and  was  not  right  for  nearly  a  year."  Just  as 
she  was  getting  on  better,  and  "beginning  to  talk  again,"  she 
was  kept  at  home  a  great  deal  to  help  with  the  housework.  When 
she  was  between  nine  and  twelve,  she  had  erysipelas  so  badly 
that  she  had  to  be  kept  in  the  hospital  for  several  months  at  a 
time. 

Marian  is  now  rather  attractive.  She  is  so  tall  and  well 
developed,  that  she  can  easily  pass  for  eighteen  or  more.  Her 
complexion  is  clear,  her  features  large  and  regular,  her  eyes 
unusually  far  apart,  her  mouth  wide,  with  the  looseness  at  the 
corners  which  in  a  boy  accompanies  a  perennial  cigarette.  Her 
rapid  growth  of  the  last  few  years  has  made  her  very  self-conscious. 
She  will  not  try  to  learn  to  dance,  as  she  feels  she  is  too  awkward. 
At  fourteen  she  became  sensitive  about  being  in  the  third  grade, 
and  flatly  refused  to  go  any  more. 

At  that  time  the  vocational  worker  arranged  for  a  psycho- 
logical examination.  The  diagnosis,  "backward  but  not  feeble- 
minded" secured  the  girl's  admission  to  the  trade  school,  in  spite 
of  her  failure  to  reach  the  required  seventh  grade.  However,  she 
was  unable  to  do  satisfactory  work  there.  There  were  constant 
complaints  about  her  irregular  attendance.  Finally  she  was 
allowed  a  domestic  certificate  and  put  in  service. 

She  succeeded  fairly  well  at  housework.     Her  only  objection 

27 


was  to  the  baby.  The  smaller  children  at  home  had  been  such 
a  burden  to  her  that  she  had  grown  to  hate  them.  She  felt  more 
and  more  resentful,  and  was  confirmed  in  this  by  her  mother's 
defensive  attitude  to\vards  life. 

E  very  one  interested  in  Marian  was  much  worried  when  she 
began  to  have  boy  friends.  Marian  says  that  her  mother  was 
afraid  that  because  she  is  backward  in  school,  the  boys  will  think 
she  is  dumb  and  take  advantage  of  her.  She  accordingly  takes 
great  pains  to  conceal  her  "  dumbness."  She  is  quite  clever  at 
disguising  her  inability  to  read,  always  asking  some  other  girl  to 
write  letters  for  her  to  her  soldier  and  sailor  friends.  She  talks 
very  frankly  about  her  love  affairs.  The  idea  of  "taking  care 
of  herself"  has  been  deeply  impressed  upon  her.  She  means  by 
this  the  avoidance  of  sexual  relations. 

The  psychological  examination  made  this  year  confirms  the 
former  diagnosis.  She  did  well  with  the  performance  tests,  show- 
ing good  analytic  and  distributed  attention.  Her  memory  span 
was  six  digits,  which  is  adequate,  and  a  fair  degree  of  trainability 
is  shown  by  learning  a  series  of  seven  on  six  repetitions.  On  the 
Terman  revision  she  has  a  mental  age  of  9-7,  with  a  basal  age  of 
eight.  This  extremely  low  score  is  the  result  of  her  inability  to 
read  or  do  any  but  the  very  simplest  number  work,  and  also  to  a 
deficient  vocabulary.  She  passed  the  ball  and  field  at  the  eight- 
year  level,  and  the  absurdities  and  questions  of  comprehension 
at  the  ten-year.  The  only  twelve-year  test  she  passed  was  the 
interpretation  of  the  pictures. 

Certainly  this  performance  would  suggest  that  her  intelligence 
belongs  in  the  border  line  group,  and  yet,  when  her  skill  with  the 
mechanical  tests  is  considered,  and  allowance  is  made  for  the 
narrow  range  of  interests  forced  upon  the  illiterate,  we  must 
admit  that  she  adjusts  herself  fairly  well  to  her  limitations.  She 
conforms  well  enough  to  the  social  requirements  of  her  group,  and 
only  falls  short  of  the  intellectual  requirements  of  a  different  one. 

BEATRICE 
Age:    13.     Source:   White- Williams.     Binet  Age:   8-7 

Beatrice  presents  in  an  exaggerated  form  some  of  the  strongest 
determining  factors  of  non-conformity.  She  is  one  of  the  large 
group  who  can  never  be  like  other  people  because  of  a  definitely 
neurotic  tendency.  She  is  not  unable  to  understand  what  is 

28 


expected  of  her  and  to  try  to  conform,  but  she  lacks  the  physical 
and  nervous  control  to  succeed.  Her  appearance  in  itself  is 
enough  to  segregate  her  from  normal  children.  She  is  small  and 
undeveloped,  with  a  wizened  little  face  that  twitches  as  she  talks. 
She  speaks  with  an  infantile  stammer.  Her  manner  is  childlike — 
altogether  she  is  a  picture  of  nervous  degeneracy. 

Beatrice  is  the  only  child  of  a  fairly  well-to-do  middle-aged 
fou pie,  who  cannot  understand  that  she  is  different  from  other 
girls.  She  has  had  good  home  conditions,  and  shows  the  knowledge 
of  practical  things  characteristic  of  children  who  have  been  much 
with  ohbr  peopl  \  She  has  never  had  any  friends  of  her  own  age. 
l.:;i"lv  she  has  made  some  acquaintances  on  the  street,  and  has 
met  (hem  sometimes. 

In  school  slie  has  never  had  a  good  record.  She  is  now  in  the 
fourth  grade,  and  is  doing  no  work  at  all  there.  It  is  difficult  for 
her  to  sit  still  in  school,  and  she  attracts  a  good  deal  of  attention 
from  the  other  children.  Recently  the  "bad"  older  girls  have 
been  getting  her  into  trouble  by  encouraging  her  to  talk  back, 
she  says. 

It  seems  almost  impossible  that  a  girl  of  this  type  should 
have  any  opportunities  for  social  non-conformity  of  the  sort  that 
the  Philadelphia  Committee  has  dealt  with,  and  yet  she  has  been 
twice  picked  up  on  the  street  by  the  women  officers.  The  first 
tim?  was  during  the  celebration  of  the  signing  of  the  armistice  in 
November,  1918.  Beatrice  had  met  another  girl  on  her  block 
and  together  they  had  gone  down  town.  They  were  so  young 
and  so  especially  uncontrolled  that  they  were  noticeable  even 
in  that  crowd.  The  protective  officers  sent  them  home  after 
they  had  climbed  up  and  blown  the  horn  of  an  automobile  filled 
with  drunken  men.  The  worker  who  followed  the  case  felt  that 
Beatrice's  parents  did  not  recognize  the  danger  that  the  girl  ran 
in  being  without  clos?  supervision.  They  also  refused  a  neuro- 
logical examination. 

The  second  time  Beatrice  was  found  on  the  street  by  the 
officers  she  was  with  a  young  girl  who  was  a  runaway,  and  who 
was  living  in  a  disreputable  hotel.  The  girls  had  met  in  front 
of  a  five-  and  ten-cent  store  window,  had  started  a  conversation, 
and  had  gone  for  a  walk.  At  10.30  they  were  running  down 
Market  Street,  bumping  into  the  men  whom  they  passed,  and 
calling  to  the  sailors.  Beatrice  talked  confidingly  to  the  officers, 
admitted  that  she  did  not  know  the  girl  she  was  with,  and  that 

29 


she  did  know  that  she  ought  not  to  behave  that  way  on  the  street. 
The  case  was  taken  into  juvenile  court,  in  order  to  force  the  parents 
to  take  more  care  of  the  child. 

The  medical  examination  showed  that  she  needed  to  be  taken 
out  of  school,  and  given  careful  diet  and  more  exercise.  The 
psychological  examination  gave  her  a  Binet  age  of  eight  years 
and  seven  months.  She  had  a  basal  age  of  eight.  Her  failure 
seemed  to  be  due  to  extreme  lack  of  concentrated  and  analytic 
attention,  as  well  as  poor  judgment  and  self-control.  Her  vocabu- 
lary is  poor.  Her  memory  span  is  short — five — and  cannot  be 
raised  on  ten  repetitions  of  a  series  one  digit  longer.  This  seems 
due  to  her  wandering  attention.  The  performance  tests  were 
badly  done.  She  seems  unable  to  coordinate  well  enough  to 
acquire  efficiency.  She  uses  the  trial  and  error  method  entirely. 
Bad  as  the  performance  was,  however,  it  was  suggestive  of 
dementia  rather  than  of  amentia. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  in  Beatrice's  case  rests  with  the 
parents.  As  long  as  they  are  able  to  take  care  of  her  she  is 
capable  of  doing  housework,  and  generally  getting  on  in  a  simple 
and  favorable  environment.  She  could  never  support  herself,  or 
meet  any  unusual  conditions.  If  she  is  kept  from  her  street 
friends  she  will  not  be  likely  to  become  non-conformed  sexually, 
and  yet  it  was  only  the  accident  of  her  arrest  which  saved  her 
from  longer  association  with  the  girl  who  was  already  a  prostitute. 
Beatrice's  mother  received  an  anonymous  letter  from  a  sailor 
whom  the  girls  had  picked  up  on  that  evening,  telling  her  that  he 
had  met  Beatrice  and  knew  that  she  "did  not  understand  things" 
and  that  her  companion  was  a  bad  girl  with  whom  she  should 
not  go.  She  now  realizes  that  her  daughter's  future  depends 
entirely  upon  outside  influences. 

SARA 
Source:  White-Williams.     Age:   14-7.     Binet  Age:  9-2 

Sara  has  been  referred  to  the  Committee  as  one  of  the  girls  of 
school  age  whose  recreational  opportunities  are  especially  limited. 
She  lives  in  a  bad  neighborhood  and  has  lately  begun  to  go  with 
undesirable  companions.  Conditions  in  the  family  are  unfavor- 
able— although  the  children  are  well  enough  cared  for  physically— 
as  the  mother  is  very  deaf  and  has  no  control  over  Sara,  and  the 
father  is  away  from  home  most  of  the  time.  Three  brothers  and 

30 


sisters  seem  to  be  doing  well,  but  one  brother  is  in  an  institution 
for  the  feeble-minded. 

The  girl's  school  history  is  poor.  She  is  now  in  the  third 
grade.  The  mother  ascribes  this  to  poor  attendance  when  she 
was  younger,  and  tells  a  story  of  poor  health.  Now  Sara  stays 
at  home  on  all  sorts  of  pretenses,  and  her  conduct  is  rated  very 
poor.  She  is  not  sensitive  about  being  in  the  third  grade  because 
it  indicates  poor  mentality,  but  because  the  older  girls,  she  says, 
do  not  like  to  play  with  her,  and  she  cannot  have  any  fun  with 
the  little  ones  in  her  own  room. 

Sara  has  none  of  the  marks  of  qualitative  feeble-mindedness. 
Her  place  on  the  scale  of  social  competency  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  she  has  never  been  considered  a  case  for. the  special  class. 
Her  appearance  is  fairly  good.  She  is  large  and  well  developed, 
and  has  a  pleasant  manner.  She  is  resentful  of  the  persecution 
of  the  attendance  officers,  as  she  is  anxious  to  get  to  work.  She 
wants  to  go  into  a  mill  where  her  older  sister  is.  This  sister  has 
been  taking  her  to  dances,  and  Sara  wants  to  be  independent 
and  have  a  "steady  friend"  of  her  own.  If  the  attendance 
officers  don't  soon  let  her  alone,  she  thinks  she  will  get  married. 
She  doesn't  know  anyone  particularly  whom  she  would  marry, 
but  she  is  sure  she  could  get  a  steady  fellow  if  she  wanted  one. 
As  it  is,  the  sister  always  brings  Sara  home  with  her.  Sara  has 
not  the  vocabulary  to  discuss  the  boy  problem  any  farther. 

The  psychological  examination  gives  Sara  a  Binet  age  of 
nine  years  and  two  months,  an  I.  Q.  of  .63.  She  had  a  basal 
age  of  eight,  and  passed  four  of  the  nine-year  and  one  each  of  the 
twelve-  and  fifteen-year  tests.  She  has  a  special  language  defect, 
as  shown  in  an  unusually  meager  vocabulary.  Her  powers  of 
imagination  are  also  very  limited.  She  was  unable  to  give  any 
description  of  the  pictures,  passing  them  at  the  enumeration  level. 
She  was  best  on  the  questions  of  comprehension.  In  all  tests 
involving  school  proficiency  she  did  very  badly.  She  is  decidedly 
below  the  third-grade  standard  in  both  reading  and  number  work. 
The  performance  tests  showed  fair  motor  coordination  but  an 
entire  lack  of  planfulness. 

These  results  show  that  the  girl  is  not  normal.  On  the  other 
hand  the  qualitative  marks  of  feeble-mindedness  are  lacking  to 
such  an  extent  that  society  will  never  consign  her  to  an  institution 
becausa  of  her  defective  mentality.  However,  she  will  always 
need  a  little  more  supervision  than  the  ordinary  girl,  both  in  her 

31 


work  and  in  her  recreation.  Her  physical  development  has 
exceeded  her  mental  so  far  that  it  is  not  likely  that  she  will  have 
any  strong  inhibitions  when  her  instincts  are  aroused.  She  is  the 
type  which  is  at  the  mercy  of  her  environment  and  any  chance 
circumstances.  Since  she  is  perfectly  capable  of  learning  to 
support  hers3lf,  she  may  be  kept  at  work  by  her  sister's  influence, 
or  she  may  marry  early.  On  the  other  hand  if  she  is  ever  sub- 
jected to  any  strain  which  will  swing  the  balance  towards  non- 
conformity, she  will  be  the  type  of  social  problem  which  is  unsolv- 
able,  because  she  cannot  co-operate  in  solving  it. 

EMMA 
Source :  Philadelphia  Committee.   Age :  13.   Binet  Age :  10-6 

Emma  was  sent  to  the  Philadelphia  Committee  by  a  social 
S3rvice  worker  from  a  hospital  where  she  had  been  accompanying 
an  oldsr  woman  who  was  taking  anti-syphilitic  treatments. 
Emma  came  into  the  office  looking  curiously  slight  and  incapable 
for  an  eighteen-year-old  girl.  She  told  a  consistent  story:  that 
she  was  nineteen,  that  her  mother  and  father  had  died  when  she 
was  fourteen,  and  that  since  then  she  had  been  living  at  service. 
She  was  very  indefinite  about  her  employment;  just  prior  to  three 
months  she  said  she  had  lived  with  "Dottie." 

It  was  evident  that  the  girl  needed  some  supervision,  so  a 
room  was  engaged  for  her  in  a  working  girls'  home.  A  worker 
then  found  a  position  for  her  at  some  light  factory  work,  and  gave 
her  specific  directions  about  getting  there.  On  the  day  she  was 
to  begin,  she  appeared  in  the  office,  waiting  for  the  worker  who 
had  helped  her,  and  refusing  to  tell  her  errand  to  anyone  else. 
At  last  she  confided  the  fact  that  she  had  forgotten  which  car  to 
take  to  get  to  the  address,  which  she  had  written  on  a  slip  of  paper. 
One  of  the  workers  then  put  her  on  the  car. 

The  following  afternoon  Emma  telephoned  from  the  factory, 
asking  that  a  worker  come  down  and  take  her  to  the  home,  as 
she  had  been  unable  to  find  it  the  night  before.  She  said  she  had 
spent  the  night  at  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  The  worker  arranged  at 
once  for  a  psychological  examination. 

The  next  day  the  superintendent  of  the  girls'  home  telephoned 
that  Emma  had  given  up  her  position.  Men  were  calling  her  up 
all  the  time,  and  Emma  had  paid  her  board  with  money  given  her 
by  an  Italian,  " Joe."  "Joe,"  the  girl  said,  was  going  to  take  her 

32 


to  New  York,  and  find  her  some  nice,  easy  work  where  she  could 
make  eighteen  dollars  a  week.  He  told  her  that  she  could  have 
all  the  money  she  wanted  as  long  as  sh&  was  a  good  girl  to  him. 
One  night  he  had  taken  her  to  a  Girard  Avenue  hotel  with  him. 

The  girl  was  taken  to  the  municipal  court  on  the  charge  of 
runaway.  Investigation  showed  that  her  real  name  was  Claire 

S .  She  was  a  ward  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society.  A  month 

ago  she  had  run  away  from  the  home  in  which  they  had  placed 
her,  and  since  then  she  had  been  living  with  Dottie.  Apparently, 
Dottle  had  had  no  idea  of  the  girl's  real  age,  but  had  taken  her 
in  as  another  prostitute.  Claire  had  had  her  first  sex  experience 
since  running  away.  Although  she  had  been  promiscuous,  she 
was  not  diseased. 

The  psychological  examination  showed  her  normal,  but 
backward.  The  performance  tests  were  poor,  and  she  failed  to 
develop  much  efficiency  in.  them.  On  the  Binet  scale  (Terman 
Revision)  she  scored  10  years  2  months,  with  a  basal  age  of  9. 
Her  vocabulary  is  poor,  as  is  usual  with  the  children  of  institu- 
tional history.  She  failed  the  abstractions,  giving  revenge — to 
oversee  something;  charity — to  keep  from  harm;  envy — the  same 
thing;  justice — to  do  something.  She  passed  the  pictures  at  the 
S3ven-year  level — more  enumeration  than  description.  The  ques- 
tions of  judgment  and  comprehension  were  answered  very  badly. 

Her  proficiency  in  reading  and  arithmetic  was  that  of  the 
fourth  grade,  which  was  her  grade  in  school.  Her  retardation  is 
probably  largely  due  to  her  irregular  attendance  before  she  was 
placed  out  by  the  Children's  Aid.  Her  memory  span  is  six,  and 
good  trainability  is  shown  in  learning  longer  series.  Her  persistent 
attention  is  good,  but  she  has  very  limited  distributed  attention. 
She  is  still  too  undeveloped,  both  physically  and  mentally,  to  be 
capable  of  supporting  herself. 

The  prospects  for  Claire's  future  are  not  entirely  dark,  if  she 
can  be  placed  in  the  proper  environment,  and  kept  in  a  school 
where  she  could  have  careful  individual  attention.  Her  very 
unconventional  experience  for  a  girl  of  thirteen  seems  to  have 
made  very  little  impression  on  her.  She  has  apparently  felt  it 
in  the  mass  rather  than  as  individual  episodes,  and  she  was  not 
self-reliant  enough  to  really  enjoy  her  freedom.  She  is  essentially 
a  conformed  rather  than  a  non-conformed  type,  and  will  probably 
adapt  her  conduct  to  any  standards  put  before  her  clearly  and 
forcibly. 

33 


MARGARET 
Source:  White- Williams.     Age:   15.     BinetAge:   11 

Margaret  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  little  girls  who  ever 
created  disorder  in  a  schoolroom.  She  was  reported  to  the 
vocational  counsellor  after  her  bad  behavior  and  truancy  had 
caused  her  expulsion  from  school.  Later  she  was  referred  to  the 
Philadelphia  Committee  as  a  girl  who  had  been  meeting  sailors  on 
the  wharves. 

The  neighborhood  in  which  the  "  Wharf  Rat,"  as  her  school- 
mates call  her,  lives,  is  one  of  the  most  disreputable  in  the  city. 
The  visitor  found  her  house  in  a  tiny  alley.  The  place  was  full 
of  children  crawling  around  in  the  mud,  and  slovenly  mothers 
were  sitting  on  the  doorsteps  gossiping.  Apparently  no  one  ever 
thought  of  working. 

Margaret's  dress  is  always  most » untidy,  but  her  cheeks  are 
always  pink  and  her  hair  elaborately  arranged.  She  is  small  but 
well-developed,  with  pretty  features  and  a  baby  stare.  She  is 
most  responsive,  and  apparently  anxious  to  get  on  better.  How- 
ever it  is  soon  evident  that  this  is  merely  the  result  of  extreme 
suggestibility.  Her  habit  of  agreeing  with  everyone  and  of 
providing  full  excuses  has  earned  her  a  reputation  for  complete 
untruthfulness.  Her  lies  are  most  inconsistent,  but  they  do  not 
bother  her  at  all. 

Her  psychological  examination  shows  how  completely  her 
social  non-conformity  correlates  with  specific  defects.  Her  per- 
formance tests  were  normal.  She  passed  the  Terman  revision  at 
11,  with  a  basal  age  of  9.  Her  answers  were  often  most  unin- 
telligent, but  she  had  no  ability  to  criticise  them,  seeming  satisfied 
with  the  wrong  ones.  She  is  below  normal  in  judgment,  and  in 
analytic,  persistent,  and  concentrated,  attention.  Her  vocabulary 
is  fairly  good.  The  fact  that  she  reached  the  fifth  grade  may 
probably  be  attributed  to  her  good  memory  span — 7.  Her 
retentiveness  is  low.  In  school  subjects  she  is  really  below  the 
standard  of  the  fifth  grade. 

Margaret  can  certainly  not  be  called  feeble-minded,  and  yet 
there  are  these  specific  defects  of  the  higher  thought  processes 
which  will  prevent  her  from  ever  reaching  a  higher  social  standard. 
She  is  a  discouraging  picture  of  a  normal  but  weak  type  which  is 
unable  to  contend  with  its  environment.  She  reflects  her  home 
so  completely  that  she  is  unable  to  conform  to  the  higher  require- 

34 


ments  of  school.  Her  delinquency  is  typical  of  her  surroundings. 
There  is  no  odium  whatever  attached  to  casual  sex  relations. 
Margaret  lacks  the  imagination  and  judgment  to  perceive  the 
defects  of  A —  -  Street's  easy  manner  of  life,  or  the  energy  to 
rise  above  it. 

LOUISE 
Source:  White- Williams.     Age:   13.    BinetAge:  8-11 

Louise  was  reported  to  the  committee  by  the  Catholic 
Children  Bureau  and  the  White- Williams  Foundation  at  about  the 
same  time.  She  had  been  recognized  as  a  child  needing  special 
treatment  in  school.  Her  father  is  tubercular,  her  home  is  poor 
and  crowded,  and  several  years  ago  the  C.  C.  B.  worker  feared 
that  she  was  threatened  with  T.  B.  She  was  put  in  an  open-air 
class  for  awhile,  and  later  sent  to  a  state  sanatarium.  She  was 
soon  returned  from  there,  as  she  was  caught  stealing.  After  she 
returned  to  the  city,  she  disliked  going  to  school,  and  her  poor 
attendance  has  been  excused  on  the  grounds  of  poor  health. 

A  recent  examination  shows  that  there  is  no  active  T.  B.  The 
special  care  which  has  been  given  her  shows  in  her  healthy,  well- 
nourished  appearance.  She  is  over-developed  for  her  age,  and 
has  been  pubescent  nearly  two  years.  For  the  past  year  she  has 
been  quite  uncontrollable  at  home.  The  father  is  not  able  to 
enforce  obedience,  and  the  mother  seems  too  weak-willed  to  care 
to  try.  Louise  has  been  staying  out  late  at  night,  often  not 
returning  at  all.  Several  weeks  ago  she  remained  away  from 
home  for  two  weeks.  She  answered  an  advertisement  in  a  paper, 
which  a  friend  read  to  her,  and  secured  a  position  at  housework 
at  a  salary  of  five  dollars  a  week.  After  two  weeks  her  employer 
discharged  her  because  she  was  slovenly  and  had  brought  no 
clothes  with  her.  She  is  able  to  pass  as  a  very  stupid  girl  of 
fifteen  or  sixteen.  Louise's  only  motive  in  running  away  seems 
to  have  been  her  desire  to  stay  out  at  night  without  being  scolded. 
She  says  that  she  was  so  homesick  that  she  cried  every  night,  but 
she  did  not  attempt  to  return  until  she  was  discharged. 

After  her  return  a  physical  and  psychological  examination 
was  arranged  for.  Although  the  physical  examination  indicated 
intercourse,  Louise  refused  to.  admit  any  immorality.  The 
psychological  diagnosis  was  "Not  higher  than  middle  grade 
imbecile,  Barr  classification."  On  the  night  of  the  examination, 

35 


Louiso  slipped  out  of  the  house  and  was  arrested  by  the  workers 
of  the  Philadelphia  Committee  while  she  was  picking  up  sailors 
on  Market  Street.  She  then  admitted  that  she  had  been  pro- 
miscuous since  last  spring,  and  had  often  met  sailors  in  the  park 
during  the  summer.  She  was  taken  to  the  House  of  Detention, 
and  put  on  strict  probation  to  the  Juvenile  Court. 

Louise's  father  is  anxious  that  she  be  put  in  an  institution. 
She  has  bought  things  on  the  instalment  plan  against  his  orders 
several  times,  and  he  realizes  that  she  is  unable  to  have  any 
responsibility.  However,  her  appearance  is  sufficiently  normal 
to  make  it  difficult  to  have  her  committed  to  an  institution  for 
the  feeble-minded. 

The  psychological  examination  showed  a  complete  lack  of 
judgment  and  analytic  attention.  Her  performance  as  quali- 
tatively and  quantitatively  subnormal.  On  the  Binet  scale 
(Terman  revision)  she  passed  at  8-11,  with  a  basal  age  of  7,  a 
retardation  of  5  years,  and  an  I.  Q.  of  66.4.  She  passed  the  simi- 
larities and  the  vocabulary  in  VIII,  the  weights  in  IX,  and  the 
absurdities,  questions  of  comprehension  and  memory  span  in  X. 
She  passed  the  interpretation  of  the  pictures  at  the  twelve-year 
level.  Her  trainability  was  good,  as  shown  in  learning  the  series 
of  seven  digits,  one  longer  than  her  memory  span,  in  three  repe- 
titions. However  she  was  incapable  of  learning  to  give  more  than 
three  digits  backwards.  Her  mechanical  tests  were  very  poorly 
done.  She  would  scarcely  copy  the  diamond  satisfactorily.  Her 
performance  of  the  Healy  A  was  especially  bad.  She  showed 
poorly  distributed  attention,  and  used  a  very  unintelligent  trial 
and  error  method,  putting  in  the  small  blocks  first  and  grouping 
the  larger  ones  around  them.  After  seeing  the  examiner  do  it, 
she  repeated  it  at  once  with  no  wrong  moves. 

One  of  Louise's  most  characteristic  traits  was  her  extreme 
suggestibility.  It  was  possible  to  elicit  almost  any  answer  to  a 
question.  Her  school  proficiency  is  very  low,  below  the  second 
grade.  She  says  the  likes  housework,  but  is  unable  to  give  any 
intelligent  account  of  methods  of  cooking,  etc. 

Louise  seems  to  be  aware  that  it  is  not  to  her  interest  to 
admit  sexual  non-conformity.  She  is  of  the  borderline  type  that 
is  a  serious  social  menace.  Her  non-conformity  is  the  result  of 
her  inability  to  acquire  the  inhibitions  which  in  a  competent 
member  of  society  should  keep  pace  with 'her  physical  development. 

36 


CLARA 
Source:  White- Williams.    Age:  15.    BinetAge:  14 

Clara  was  referred  to  the  vocational  worker  after  a  long 
record  of  failures  and  bad  conduct  in  school.  Her  reputation  in 
her  neighborhood  is  such  that  the  priest  remarked  that  if  she  died, 
she  could  not  be  buried  from  his  church.  She  has  never  been  in 
court,  but  several  times  lately  the  police  have  threatened  her  with 
arrest  because  she  hangs  around  the  streets  and  squares.  So  far 
as  is  known,  her  work  has  never  been  normal  for  her  age.  The 
situation  has  been  more  difficult  because  there  has  never  been  any 
co-operation  from  the  mother. 

Clara  is  especially  interesting  because  we  have  a  full  record 
of  her  five  years  ago,  when  she  was  already  showing  symptoms 
of  non-conformity  in  school  which  led  a  worker  interested  in  the 
family  to  take  the  girl  to  the  Psychological  Clinic  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania.  At  this  time  she  was  trying  to  do  third-grade 
work,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  she  was  below  the  level  of  second- 
grade  proficiency.  Her  physical  development  was  described  as 
that  of  a  girl  of  twelve.  The  diagnosis  was  deferred.  She  was 
about  three  years  retarded,  the  examiner  stating:  "She  is  cer- 
tainly attempting  work  beyond  her  ability  at  present.  Mentality 
probably  normal  but  somewhat  below  average."  There  seemed 
to  be  a  special  language  defect,  almost  to  the  point  of  "  congenital 
illiteracy."  Transfer  to  a  special  class  was  recommended. 

At  that  time  the  mother  was  rather  indifferent  to  the  need 
for  special  supervision  of  the  girl.  The  case  was  closed  because 
of  the  lack  of  co-operation.  During  the  five  years  which  followed 
before  Clara  came  under  the  notice  of  the  Philadelphia  Com- 
mittee, the  mother  seems  to  have  developed  a  horror  of  social 
workers.  She  also  distrusted  the  attendence  officers.  She  refused 
to  send  her  daughter  to  school,  even  if  she  were  arrested  for 
it.  She  will  not  allow  the  girl  to  get  a  domestic  certificate,  as  she 
does  not  want  her  to  be  a  slave.  On  one  day  she  said  she  wanted 
her  placed  in  the  Catholic  Protectory,  and  the  next  day  she  denied 
tha^  she  had  ever  said  she  was  troublesome.  She  refused  to  let 
Clara  have  a  physical  or  psychological  examination,  or  to  go 
with  the  worker  alone. 

Later  Clara  was  taken  into  Juvenile  Court.  She  was  preg- 
nant, and  the  mother  testified  that  she  had  just  married  a  Polish 
boy  who  was  responsible  for  her  condition.  A  few  weeks  later 

37 


she  had  secured  work  in  a  factory  and  the  Bureau  of  Compulsory 
Education  had  sent  word  to  her  that  she  must  finish  her  con- 
tinuation time. 

Clara's  case  will  probably  keep  coming  before  •  one  agency 
after  another.  She  definitely  belongs  already  to  the  group  which 
is  unable  to  get  on  without  assistance.  She  belonged  from  an 
early  age  to  the  group  which  are  noticeably  different  from  other 
people.  In  her  case,  sexual  non-conformity  is  a  part  of  the  whole 
picture  of  social  incompetency.  She  matured  physically  before 
she  had  any  idea  of  social  requirements,  and  her  bad  environment 
has  prevented  her  from  acquiring  any.  For  five  years  the  school 
did  nothing  for  her  except  allow  her  to  sit  in  the  third  grade,  and 
there  was  no  recreation  open  to  her.  The  ability  which  she  may 
have  had  three  years  ago  was  not  utilized,  and  she  has  become  a 
thoroughly  non-conformed  individual. 

BERTHA 
Source:  Federal  Court.    Age:  30.    BinetAge:   12 

Bertha  is  an  example  of  the  most  difficult  cases  with  which  the 
Philadelphia  Committee  has  dealt.  She  is  now  thirty,  the  mother 
of  a  sixteen-year-old  daughter,  and  has  been  a  prostitute  for  fifteen 
years.  She  has  been  committed  five  times  to  the  house  of  correc- 
tion, and  served  a  year  and  a  half  in  Bedford  Reformatory.  Her 
Wasserman  reaction  is  4  plus  and  she  is  addicted  to  the  use  of 
heroin. 

In  spite  of  all  this,  she  hardly  looks  her  age.  She  is  tall  and 
slender,  with  sharp  features,  and  the  manner  and  appearance  of 
a  mill  girl  of  twenty-five.  She  has  never  learned  to  use  cosmetics 
successfully.  Her  large  dark  eyes  have  a  frank  expression  which 
harmonizes  with  her  full  and  ready,  though  often  inconsistent, 
statements. 

In  September,  1918,  Bertha  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
by  the  Law  Enforcement  division,  as  in  need  of  medial  attention 
and  superivsion.  In  spite  of  all  her  court  appearances,  she  had 
never  been  on  probation.  She  said  she  was  heartily  tired  of 
prostitution,  and  anxious  to  go  to  work  if  she  could  regain  her 
health.  She  has  been  under  supervision  up  to  April,  1919. 
During  this  time  the  Committee  workers  have  had  an  opportunity 
to  observe  her  efforts  at  reform. 

Bertha's  mother,  sister,  and  daughter  live  in  a  neat  and  fairly 

38 


comfortable  little  house.  If  the  care  which  Bertha's  mother  has 
given  Bertha's  child  is  any  index,  Bertha's  own  early  environment 
is  not  responsible  for  her  history.  The  whole  family,  including 
the  daughter,  look  upon  Bertha  as  an  unfortunate,  but  inde- 
pendent individual,  for  whom  they  assume  no  responsibility,  but 
whom  they  allow  to  come  home  whenever  she  needs  to  recuperate. 
At  thirteen,  Bertha  was  in  the  fifth  grade.  She  left  school  to  go  to 
work.  In  a  few  months  her  mother  discovered  that  she  was 
pregnant  and  forced  a  marriage.  The  husband  deserted  soon 
after  the  baby's  birth.  Before  Bertha  was  sixteen,  another  man 
was  supporting  her.  Ever  since,  she  has  been  more  or  less  pro- 
rniscous.  Of  all  her  lovers,  she  admires  most  a  very  light  negro, 
who  was  the  leader  of  a  band.  She  especially  liked  to  go  into 
restaurants  with  him,  for  he  looked  so  handsome  in  his  uniform 
that  everybody  turned  around  to  look  at  him. 

Now  Bertha  claims  that  she  was  forced  into  prostitution  by 
poverty.  She  asserts  that  she  dislikes  men,  as  they  have  brought 
her  only  misery  and  ill-health.  She  feels  rather  that  she  has  not 
been  successful  in  her  profession  than  that  it  is  an  essentially 
impossible  one.  She  has  accepted  court  sentences  quite  as  a 
matter  of  course,  a  part  of  the  necessary  risk.  She  has  a  good 
record  in  every  institution  in  which  she  has  been. 

Bertha  could  not  be  characterized  as  intentionally  non- 
conformed.  She  has  no  desire  to  break  rules  for  the  sake  of 
breaking  them.  Her  lack  of  conformity  comes  rather  from  a 
constitutional  inability  to  do  all  that  is  expected  of  a  member  of 
society. 

The  record  of  her  psychological  examination  shows  some  of 
the  defects  which  have  kept  her  below  the  level  of  social  com- 
petency. Bertha  is  capable  of  intelligent  reading,  considering  her 
education.  She  likes  "BS'lzac  and  Duma's,"  as  she  calls  them. 
She  answers  questions  about  her  reading  just  as  a  bright  child  of 
twelve  might.  Her  idea  of  the  plot  is  fairly  clear,  but  there  is  no 
discrimination  between  the  characters  or  orientation  in  history. 
Her  vocabulary  is  good,  in  the  Stanford  revision  ranking  between 
fifteen  and  sixteen  years.  She  has  a  markedly  figurative  style. 
When  asked  the  difference  between  poverty  and  misery,  she  said, 
"They  both  shake  hands."  Her  performance  tests  were  well 
done,  developing  efficiency  rapidly.  Her  attitude  was  co-operative, 
as  she  felt  that  she  was  doing  well.  At  first  she  was  rather  sus- 
picious, and  gave  a  most  entertaining  account  of  the  examination 

39 


given  at  Bedford,  which  she  considered  extremely  puerile.  All 
through  the  test  there  were  marked  fluctuations  of  attention. 
Her  memory  span  was  six.  Once  she  repeated  seven,  but  failed 
the  same  series  again  and  could  not  reproduce  it  before  eight 
repetitions.  Her  distributed  attention  was  good,  but  her  con- 
centrated attention  was  below  normal. 

Her  most  conspicuous  defect  was  her  performance  of  the 
mathematical  problems.  She  cannot  make  correct  change.  She 
is  quite  complacent  about  her  inability  to  keep  track  of  money. 
Her  sense  of  time  is  also  defective.  She  is  unable  to  locate  past 
events  properly. 

Bertha  loves  to  recount  highly  colored  incidents  of  her  past 
life,  but  she  claims  the  Worker's  undivided  attention.  She  is 
frequently  caught  telling  an  untruth,  when  she  always  confesses, 
apologizes,  and  tells  another.  These  are  often  most  obvious,  and 
cannot  possibly  serve  any  end.  She  is  particularly  fond  of  assumed 
names,  and  has  a  varied  stock  of  superstitions. 

On  the  whole,  her  reactions  may  be  said  to  be  just  at  the 
level  of  her  Binet  age,  twelve.  She  has  never  passed  the  unstable 
period  of  early  adolescence.  She  is  still  totally  unable  to  form 
general  ideas,  to  follow  any  organized  plan  of  life,  or  to  get  along 
at  all  without  the  support  and  assistance  of  others. 

ELIZABETH 
Source:  Federal  Court.    Age:  29.    Binet  Age:  11-4 

This  case  was  referred  to  the  Philadelphia  Committee  by  the 
Federal  police  of  the  Law  Enforcement  division,  as  they  felt  that 
because  of  some  features  of  the  case  she  might  profit  by  more 
informal  probation.  She  has  been  a  prostitute  for  twelve  years. 
For  the  last  four  years  she  has  been  living  with  a  man  who  "has 
been  very  good  to  her."  Since  he  has  been  in  the  army  she  has 
solicited  on  the  streets.  She  has  served  three  terms  in  the  House 
of  Correction  and  a  year  in  Bedford  Reformatory.  Her  Wasser- 
man  is  4  plus  and  she  uses  heroin.  She  is  also  an  inveterate 
cigarette  smoker. 

Elizabeth's  home  was  good;  in  fact,  she  has  some  very  respect- 
able relatives  whom  she  sometimes  visits,  who  believe  that  she  is 
married.  Her  mother  died  when  she  was  very  young,  her  father 
married  a  woman  about  her  own  age,  and  Elizabeth  was  given 
to  her  grandmother,  who  had  very  little  control  over  her.  At 

40 


fifteen  she  finished  the  eighth  grade,  and  went  to  work  in  a  factory. 
Another  girl  told  her  that  she  could  make  money  more  easily  and 
kept  showing  Elizabeth  her  pretty  clothes.  At  seventeen, 
Elizabeth  became  a  prostitute  deliberately,  she  says,  because  she 
was  tired  of  work.  In  the  light  of  her  character  as  we  know  it, 
however,  it  seems  more  likely  that  she  simply  yielded  to  suggestion. 

Elizabeth  is  really  fond  of  housework.  She  has  a  little  house 
(in  a  tenderloin  neighborhood),  which  she  keeps  in  perfect  order. 
Her  hands  look  like  a  charwoman's.  She  is  devoted  to  her  com- 
mon-law husband,  whom  she  thinks  might  perhaps  marry  her — 
"She  has  never  asked  him" — and  yet  she  has  not  the  strength  of 
character  to  be  faithful  to  him.  She  has  repeatedly  stolen  from 
people  who  have  been  kind  to  her,  even  from  Bertha,  who  has 
been  her  friend  for  years. 

Unlike  Bertha,  Elizabeth  is  ashamed  of  her  profession. 
While  Bertha  glories  in  her  ability  to  relate  wild  tales,  Elizabeth 
prefers  to  appear  like  other  people.  For  a  short  time  she  held 
satisfactorily  a  temporary  position  in  a  business  office.  She  said 
she  loved  it  there,  as  she  likes  to  be  among  people  who  talk  nicely. 
A  position  was  found  for  her  as  ward  maid  in  a  hospital,  and  she 
got  on  very  well,  until  her  roommate  reported  her  for  smoking,  and 
she  was  discharged. 

She  is  able  to  work  well  under  supervision,  but  she  is  unable 
to  assume  responsibility  for  herself. 

Her  psychological  diagnosis  is  normal,  dull — social  insuffi- 
ciency due  to  weak  character.  She  did  very  well  on  the  per- 
formance tests.  Her  score  on  the  Terman  revision  is  11-4,  with 
a  basal  age  of  ten.  During  the  tests  she  showed  a  lack  of  self- 
confidence,  and  required  a  great  deal  of  urging.  She  passed 
all  the  twelve-year  tests  except  the  memory  span.  Her  span  for 
digits  is  five  on  one  repetition,  six  on  two .  (auditory) .  It  is  much 
higher  on  the  visual  presentation,  seven  on  one,  and  eight  on 
two,  repetitions.  Her  vocabulary  is  below  the  twelve-year  level. 
This  and  her  memory  span  seem  to  be  her  greatest  deficiencies. 
Her  mental  defects  are  not  enough  in  themselves  to  account  for 
her  failure  to  conform.  The  reason  for  this  must  be  sought  in 
her  suggestibility  and  her  weak  will. 


41 


SOME  GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS 

Since  normality  is  essentially  a  social  judgment,  it  does  not 
depend  upon  the  specific  defects  or  abilities  of  the  individual. 
Many  people  who  would  rank  as  normal  have  more  serious  defects 
than  some  of  the  non-conformed,  and  yet  their  environment  has 
|  been  such  that  they  never  fall  below  the  social  standard.  The 
mental  defects  seem  to  appear  in  some  circumstances  which 
demand  the  individual's  best  efforts  just  as  the  neurotic  tendency, 
under  some  particular  stress,  results  in  a  psychopathic  condition. 
\^~  The  only  treatment  which  can  serve  as  a  preventive  of  this 
type  of  delinquency  consists  in  recognition  and  special  care  of 
those  who  show  the  sort  of  defects  which  result  in  social  non- 
conformity. For  these  individuals  all  kinds  of  stabilizing  influ- 
ences are  necessary.  Attention  to  health  and  housing  conditions, 
along  with  adequate  education  furthering  complete  adjustment  to 
environment,  contributes  to  habits  of  conformity.  The  individual 
whose  environment  affords  balancing  influences,  is  best  prepared 
to  survive  the  emotional  strain  of  adolescence. 

The  public  school  is  gradually  coming  to  the  point  of  making 
special  provision,  particularly  along  occupational  and  industrial 
lines,  for  the  exceptional  child.  This  provision  should  not  stop 
with  the  backward  and  feeble-minded  child,  but  should  be  carried 
into  the  training  of  the  "normal."  Since  society  is  coming  to 
realize  that  there  is  no  qualitative  dividing  line  between  the 
"bad"  and  the  "good"  in  the  sense  of  social  conformity,  but  that 
the  difference  is  often  the  result  of  some  accident  of  environment, 
it  should  also  realize  the  tremendous  importance  of  education  as 
its  greatest  corrective — or  preventive — opportunity.  Since  work 
and  play  conditions  may  throw  the  balance  for  conformity  or 
non-conformity,  it  is  essential  that  a  careful  study  should  be  made 
of  the  needs  of  each  individual  child,  by  means  of  analysis  of  his 
special  abilities  and  defects. 

In  addition  to  the  emphasis  on  social  training  any  study  of 
delinquent  girls  points  out  another  responsibility  which  society 
must  assume.  Modern  city  life  makes  public  recreation  as  much  of 
an  obligation  as  public  schools.  The  majority  of  girls  picked 

42 


up  on  the  street  by  the  protective  officers  come  from  the  mill 
districts  in  which  there  are  the  poorest  recreational  facilities. 
They  are  mostly  self-supporting,  not  foreign-born,  but  of  good 
American  stock.  They  look  for  a  "good  time"  on  the  streets  and 
in  questionable  dance-halls  because  they  have  no  other  place.  It 
is  not  even  enough  to  provide  school  training  which  shall  really 
equip  a  girl  for  life,  unless  we  follow  her  on  into  the  working  age 
with  opportunities  for  an  adequate,  wholesome  outlet  for  adoles- 
cent activity. 


